January illness could have ruined RadioShack rider’s spring campaign
Sébastien Rosseler (RadioShack) is counting the cost of having fallen ill in early January, according to Sporza. The Belgian rider missed the Santos Tour Down Under and is finding his form a little difficult to come by, which is making him concerned over his upcoming spring campaign.
“I’m starting to ask questions, because thigs did not work in Mallorca,” he told La Derniere Heure, “In training and the team camp, was like being on little wheels.”
Suffering from illness meant that Rosseler missed out on the trip to Australia for the Santos Tour Down Under, where he started his season last year. Stating home in Belgium didn’t help matters either and now he finds himself behind where he wants to be.
“That will be something to do with it,” he said on missing the Australian race. “The bad weather in Belgium did me no good.
“It was my plan this year to be in shape a bit later, because last year I was in shape too early,” he explained. “Now I fear that this form will be too late, if at all,”
Last season Rosseler returned to Europe after the Santos Tour Down Under, where his best result was 6th on the stage between Snapper Point and Willunga, and took an almost immediate victory. He won the fourth stage of the Volta ao Algarve, which was followed it closely by a respectable 14th in Kuurne-Brissel-Kuurne; by the time the big classics of April arrived though his form, and luck had run out and he failed to finish either the Ronde van Vlaanderen or Paris-Roubaix.
He managed to finish the classics season with a flourish though, taking his biggest win of the year at the Brabantse Pijl.
A hand injury that saw him abandon the Tour of Belgium, followed by a broken wrist in a training accident disrupted his early summer, and the after effects of the same crash saw him abandon the Eneco Tour in August and effectively ended his season.
Unsurprisingly, Rosseler is hoping for better fortune this year. With the departure of Gert Steegmans to Quick Step, he should, on paper, be the RadioShack team’s biggest hope in the spring races, but with worries about his form this may not be the case.
“I really hope I can finish a full season this year; but I say that every year,” he said. “The classics are my goal, but this form does not give me much confidence. I hope it will improve.”